Ferguson fires United warning

On the ball: Cristiano Ronaldo is fit again

13 April 2012

Manchester United begin the defence of their Champions League crown tonight with Sir Alex Ferguson urging them to learn the lessons of their defeat at Liverpool.

Ferguson accused United of defending like a Conference side at Anfield where they suffered a 2-1 loss despite taking a third-minute lead through Carlos Tevez.

The manager hopes his stinging criticism will shake his team up for their Group E clash against Villarreal at Old Trafford.

Ferguson said: "It was a bad team performance. In most cases players know when they have had an off day.

That was one of them. The fact is while Liverpool were the better team I could not actually see them scoring. But we gave them two gifts

"The warning sign is there. If you are going to compete at the top level, you have to compete just as hard as Liverpool did on Saturday."

Tevez is confident the United players have got the message.

"Whenever we lost a game last season we came back stronger," he said. "That was the reason we won two titles last year. I am sure we will see a reaction from all the players tonight." Villarreal manager Manuel Pellegrini, is urging the Spanish side not to hold back and said: "We will try to win. The most important thing is not to change our style."

United will be without Michael Carrick who broke his foot at Anfield, Dimitar Berbatov is a major doubt after injuring his knee in that game but Cristiano Ronaldo should be on the bench after making a quicker than expected recovery from ankle surgery.

Villarreal's former United striker Giuseppe Rossi will miss the tie due to an ankle injury.

Live on Sky Sports 2, 7.45pm

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Ferguson fires United warning

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